Protect your daughter from "YOUR BODY, MY CHOICE" this Christmas
You may have heard the disgusting phrase "Your body, my choice" that has flooded social media after Trump won the US election.
It has never been more important to empower our girls with their right to body autonomy.
For generations girls have been taught the opposite -- that they have to do things with their bodies for other people's comfort.
This lesson starts in the home.
This Christmas, let's break the cycle of forcing girls to give affection when they don't want to, and stop teaching them that their body autonomy is less important than others' expectations.
One simple technique is to suggest alternatives to unwanted kisses and hugs, such as a high five or a fist bump.
Let's give our girls the gift of knowing that it's always HER BODY, HER CHOICE. 💕💪
Transcript
So the Christmas season is here,and I've been thinking about how many little girls are going to be forced to do things with their bodies that they don't want to do over the coming weeks How many little girls are going to be told to kiss grandma when they don't want to?And that's the important point here. If kids want to show affection, that is great. But if they don't and they're forced to, think about what that teacher our girls, or when they're taught that their body is used as a transaction.Your uncle gave you a present, go and give him a hug.So these lessons have been taught in families for generations And what it teaches our girls is that what they want to do with their bodies doesn't matter because other people's comfort, other people's expectations, and so or other people not being embarrassed is more important than honouring their own boundaries and doing what they want to do with their bodies.And this can have really serious consequences when girls get older.I interviewed a group of girls, from two elite private schools in Melbourne.Teenage girls, and all of them had given oral sex, and none of them had wanted to do it.And I said to them, do you like it? And they all said, no. And so I said, why did you do it?And they said, because that's what girls have to do.And when I said you don't have to do that, do you know that you have a choice? One girl burst into tears, and she said, no one ever told me that I didn't have to do it.I didn't know that I could say no.And why would she know that? When her whole life, she has been taught in all these little micro moments in in her family that girls have to do with their bodies, what other people want them to do with their bodies.And so this Christmas, It would be so great if we could end that cycle.End that generational expectation that what girls want to do with their bodies is less important than what other people want them to do with their bodies.And so just one easy technique is when someone is expecting affection from your daughter and she doesn't wanna give it, you can suggest a high five. How about a high five? Or we like to fist bump now or we we blow kisses now, you could say, or if you really can, if you can get if you can get away with it in your family, because I know that it can be really, really tricky, model body autonomy for your daughter.If someone expects her to give a kiss or a hug, and you can see that she doesn't want to step in and say, she doesn't wanna do that right now, and back her one hundred percent.Because one of the greatest gifts you can give your daughter is to let her know that she can make an unpopular choice with her body.She can do what is right for her, and you will still love her.You will still support her, and you will still accept her.So then when she is older and she makes unpopular choices with her body,she will have the security that she will still be loved and accepted by you.
